


Storm Chasers

by LikeASwitchInHeat



Series: Rhinking in the Rain [2]
Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: Childhood Friends, Comfort, Feelings Realization, Fluff, M/M, Nervousness, Storm Chasing, high school rhink
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-30
Updated: 2019-05-30
Packaged: 2020-03-29 21:01:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19027861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LikeASwitchInHeat/pseuds/LikeASwitchInHeat
Summary: There was not really a precedent for a weather duo, but in their minds that was just a gap in culture waiting for them to fill it.





	Storm Chasers

Rhett watched the sky turn from clear daylight to darkness that nearly rivaled night time as he frantically pedaled his bike toward Link’s house. He and Link had known that it was going to storm that evening, in fact they’d been looking forward to it. They had big plans to follow the storm. Like storm trackers…. Sometimes they would talk about how they could become a team of weathermen. There was not really a precedent for a weather duo, but in their minds that was just a gap in culture waiting for them to fill it. Rhett envisioned himself as their ‘man on the scene’, out there in the elements, showing the people what they were dealing with. And Link would be the face of the operation, presenting the data on the maps, dressed in sharp lookin’ suits and over-styled hair. They were probably too old to be still playing make believe, and dreaming up these elaborate fantasies; but with Link’s mom working the night shift, who was gonna tell them that?

Link was waiting for Rhett, sitting on the stoop out front of his house in khaki shorts, a bright baggy t-shirt and a camo vest. There was a backpack at his feet, which were bouncing with either nerves or impatience. He looked like he was ready to go hunting. And maybe that was what they were doing: storm huntin’. 

Rhett was breathing heavily front pedalling so fast to get to Link before the storm actually hit. He took a minute to catch his breath. “What’s in the backpack?”

“Camera, tape recorder, notebook, pens. Just stuff to document the storm.” 

“Man, all that stuff is gonna get soaked.”  
  
“Shoot. You’re right. We should invest in some waterproof equipment.”  
  
“Yeah, well, make a note of that in that notebook and then leave it in the house. We’re just going to have to document this one with our own senses.”

“All right. I’m ready then, I guess.” 

They walked out into the field behind the house. 

“The sky looks weird, man,” Link said. 

“Make a mental note of that,” Rhett teased.

“Listen. If we talk about it, we’ll remember better, so stop givin’ me crap.”

“Okay, okay. The sky does look weird. It’s dark, but not quite gray. It’s kinda…”

“Green? Gray? It looks like both. Kinda like your eyes.”

Link’s cheeks flushed a little and he looked kinda like he wished he’s kept that particular observation to himself. 

“Storm Eyes McLaughlin. That’ll be my weatherman name. You’ll need one, too, if we’re gonna be this action weather duo. So… get thinkin’.”

“Brain _ storming _ ?”

“Har har…”

“So,” Link refocused, “Green sky. And that wall of clouds?”

“Yeah, man. That is weird, too. It’s like a line across the sky of light and dark. Real ominous.”

Suddenly, the air went completely still. 

If Link hadn’t looked nervous before, he did now. The way the pressure dropped outta the air was tangible. Neither of them spoke. Then the weirdest sound of thunder that Rhett had ever heard began rumbling.

“It sounds like a freakin train, man!” Link shouted. “And like it’s… it’s moving toward us.” 

Lightning flashed and suddenly Link was sprinting back toward the house.

“Dang it…” Rhett muttered, before chasing after him. 

Rhett’s legs were longer, and he caught up to Link quickly. 

They were halfway to Link’s house when the sky opened up and the rain began hammering down onto them. The wind whipped it into bullets and the thick drops pelted them as they ran. 

Rhett reached the house first, and Link crashed into him knocking them both over onto the living room floor. In his panic, Link forgot to close the front door. Between the door acting as an open window to the downpour, and the sound of the rain on the actual windows, Rhett thought this was a pretty cool way to experience the storm. Surrounded by it, yet shielded from it. 

It took a second for him to realize that Link was clinging to him, and how they were huddled together on the floor. His head tucked into Rhett’s chest. 

Thunder cracked, and lightning flashed once more before the power cut out. 

Rhett could feel Link’s heart hammering in his chest. And, if he was being honest, this whole situation was starting to get his blood pumping, too. If not for the same reasons….

He naturally wrapped his arms gently around Link’s hunched shoulders and patted his hand against him in an awkward attempt at comfort.

He felt like he was having an out of body experience - like he was apart from himself - watching, an powerless to act as he dipped his head down to kiss Link’s rain-drenched hair. 

A shaken Link tilted his head up toward Rhett. 

“Don’t tell nobody, all right?”

Now Rhett was nervous, “Wh--?”

“That I got scared of a stupid storm.”

Rhett exhaled. “Oh, right. ‘Course not, man. It’ll be our secret.”


End file.
